I don't think most of the gameplay elements that constitute "momentum physics" (weird buzzphrase but I've grown to accept this is a thing now) are impossible to program within the next 6 months.... but when they're getting ready to ship a big budget game internationally, and allegedly they are polishing the game to ensure quality or whatever the hell Iizuka said, making changes that significant is basically out of the question
I think changing movement physics would affect nearly everything about the game on a practical level, not least of which being testing it. How would rails behave now exactly? Springs? Level geometry on a scale that Sonic Team hadn't made prior (what does hitting this one rock do to your momentum? is that result intentional?)? How does Sonic handle on platforms from now on? Can mechanics be trivialized by our changes and if so do we have the time and money to fix that? People are basically asking Sega to change how the game's physics work, which is a huge, huge ask.
It is very obvious that seriously did unironically believe that the game was mind-blowing enough on its own that merely seeing this completely contextless gameplay would wow everyone. It clearly didn't it. It is almost insultingly tone-deaf. They really thought these two videos were something impressive to show off.
Momentum physics would mean very little in a game that isn't designed specifically to take advantage of them. That momentum wouldn't be very useful on grind rails or dash panels, for instance. And we haven't seen many surfaces or structures that would truly benefit from a different momentum system. Combat looks OK, but it doesn't make me any more interested than I already was.
Honestly....no, not even close, saying it as someone who don't even mind the frontiers footage that we got that much, but it's night and day SF5 was known as having a poor launch, non-existent single player mode, and in general it felt more like an extension of SF4 visual style what did SF6 trailer did? straight out of the gate, they shows the player TRAVERSING in an OPEN WORLD ?!!!!! running, climbing, destroying barrels with shoruken, engaging in a fight with some NPC, right out of the gate they showed some insane big new single player mode, that left everyone mesmerizing at what the hell is even happening here Then it showed returning characters, along with new characters, in some stylish presentation and some fire music THEN, it showed some actual gameplay that was ridiculously hype, whats with the graphics, the godtier animations, the crazy effects that was going on and the sheer amount of STYLE that was happening in screen, all the way till the end with the new logo that was fixed so no room for complaints here, they actually listened after all that? they still teased a new hub, for online play at the end of a trailer, that included a small glimpse of another new character all of that in a 3 minute trailer it was fantastic, showed that it was a great return to form, correcting the mistakes of the previous games, showed a glimpse of story, character, 3 modes, the gameplay, and it looked GOOD, either in technical department or visual style if that wasn't enough? at the same time, they released ANOTHER TRAILER that showed the new commentary feature for this game, it included the....commentary, and also some new gameplay and how the commentators interact with the match Still isn't enough? they updated the site that had TONS of information, about the game mechanics etc. and some convenient leak that showed the whole roster and made people relax about the amount of characters in base game this time SF6 reveal not only managed to excite the fans, but actually made non-fans interested in the game, those who didn't even touch a fighting game before were so interested there were some "criticism" of course, like Chun li face being different and weird, some concerns about the controller scheme -even though it's optional and classic mode is available- but overall the fanbase are ecstatic and general populace watched a strong stylish trailer that showed the game in some damn favorable light Compare that to frontiers marketing, we had what amounts to total of 15 minutes of footage now, and the only thing we know is that oh there is an open world now, and how the combat works but there was no real trailer, we still somehow don't have an idea about the story, and the general tone of the videos were confusing, there was no real strong visual style to what we got, the game that they showed actually had horrendous performance issues! There wasn't even a commentary about the gameplay they showed, it was aimless, showing random things, not explaining what the collectibles are or what they are doing what they doing etc. and i LIKED what i saw, cause i see some potential, and like the combat or what they showed of it, but why should i have to justify what i like about the gameplay and go through all this hoops of explanations and hand-waving some real issues in looks and animations and performance? why they didn't just show a simple, effective trailer of the game that shows the game in the best light possible and THEN distribute the rest of the informations later? why can't i just simply show the gameplay to others to show them what i liked without any disclaimers about performance or visuals or animations? even Sonic 2006 and Boom- games with horrendous performance- showed their games in better light with their trailers, could you believe that? ..........that was some accidental wall of text and i hope i didn't derail much, sorry for that
You gonna hate me for that. Not a game developer by any means, but even though the animations might look uncanny, they don't feel out of place to me. How a game looks and how it feels are two different pairs of shoes, after all. I am not saying they can't be better, but in a heavily stylized game like Sonic Frontiers, they do the job just fine. Not a fan of overly realistic graphics.
Delaying it to implement feedback assumes something is wrong. The first movie design was obviously off putting so you just “redraw” him. Complaining about gameplay samples out of context is just Internet hyperbole. It may not be the open world Sonic people imagined but it does not mean it’s broken. Not much to say about the video. I love the rapid fire air kicks. Whatever it’s called.
I think it's at least reasonable to be upset that a game with large rolling hills, tons of verticality and the supposed appeal of a free open zone to run through, is stuck with boosters and dash pads everywhere that don't have their speeds carry on for more than a second, Boost mechanics that seem like superfluous leftovers until the supposed special stages, Sonic usually being stuck at an incredibly slow jogging run sort of base speed that is Sonic 1 speed lock all over again, and pace-breaking combat that constantly stops you to button mash things to death. And still needs more of those boosters just to even attempt a colossus climb idea because literally nothing in this game can be trusted to the players to do or discover on their own, not even the controls and physics.
What we need to understand is that SEGA doing a bad job showing off the game and the game actually being jank are both things in SEGA's control, and thus if we have a problem with how people are reacting, it's still SEGA's responsibility and we shouldn't criticize each other for it. I think the game looks okay. Sonic has not been the kind of jank that 06 or Secret Rings were for a long time, I have confidence that what we are seeing is a fraction of the complete product and that the technical issues will be addressed. I'm not going to have a more complex opinion until it's put into context. What that does not mean is that it will contain the things a lot of Sonic fans find important. If they're not seeing what they like, it's not their fault. They just...don't like the decisions Sonic Team made. I get that all the time. We can't be judging each other for it, it's not healthy.
Funny tweet about how they are marketing/playing the game https://twitter.com/RogeeRoger/status/1532769962267398145?s=20&t=iM9tlz-SrZSmE962JPnynw
Ya it’s a fraction of the complete product. I don’t think it’s a bad or good first showing of the game...it’s just demonstrating some the land and Sonic fighting. They’re not proper trailers but that’s how people are judging them. I hate the word jank now. I’ve never heard or seen it so much in one place at one time. It’s cringey.
I mean it's a funny(?) joke but not sure it works in context. Would make more sense if it was DmC being used to make the comparison It's difficult to describe, but I'm used to a certain "game design language" and can infer (accurately at that) quite a bit from a gameplay trailer. I've rarely been wrong about the feel of game after watching gameplay of it and indeed, I've picked up some games specifically because the feel looked right. Best example I can think of is Hover...back when people were hyping it as the JSRF comeback we deserved. I took one look at the gameplay and said "nah, it's not quite right". I played it once and wasn't wrong. Bomb Rush Cyberpunk looks much better, and I'll be surprised if it feels at all wrong. I say all this to say that I'll be surprised if the way my fingers are anticipating the way this game will feel to be off the mark. I (and many, many others) have a knack for this. It's still personal preference, but "you're judging this too soon" feels awfully dismissive.
It's just the typical "iT loOkS LiKe sHiT" comments they also got when IV and V were first shown off. Though now this one I've also seen people say has "too much" going on in the visual department.
No waaay I can't imagine that...but then I only discovered SF3 by accident and in isolation around 2004...anyway back on topic
I feel like my brain must be broken for not viewing it as harshly or negatively as others around me, even if my criticisms are still huge and ever-present. Still, it feels weird. I used to be a big time purist on classic Sonic controls, too! Couldn't shut my trap about them! I dunno. Sonic still doesn't look all that great to control, but I do think the lower running speed / boost speed, smoother running acceleration, improved turning and return of the Colorsesque jumpdash are big steps up from either of the other two post-Gens Sonic games (LW & Forces). Not a high bar at all to cross, but I'll give credit where it's due and say that I can accept controlling that. I suppose people were expecting a total reinvention of Sonic's movement engine from recent years (I was somewhat too) but my expectations were pretty notably low and expected worse. And God knows, I could never be naïve enough to believe rolling would return lol. What a pipedream. I also feel like these videos might be making the game look worse than it already does, thanks to lack of context. Removing potential story/dialogue, the HUD, and any context whatsoever just makes all these instances seem like all there is to the game, and it's SO much worse for it. The emptiness in particular comes to mind (an issue I'd hope isn't as bad in a non-demonstration), but also understanding how the combat works. I imagine combat probably is built around grinding at the start for EXP that lets you take out enemies in quicker, flashier ways (where the "skill tree" part of the leak comes in), but since the game hides the HUD and any context whatsoever for how it works we're just left to expect that's how all battle encounters go. See what I mean? Of course I'm still giving it the benefit of the doubt, but that's because I kinda want to like this game. I don't actively go into Sonic things not wanting to like them. (Okay, maybe I did a little with Forces..) But I have to admit that teenage me in the mid-2000s saw those early shots of Sonic 06 with the massive sprawling realistic field and said "I want that game". And now I'm getting it and it's... well, hmm. LOL I just wanna hold on and see where it goes. Pray it works itself out to some extent. Idk.
It does look like a proof of concept demo someone has uploaded to YouTube and are showing that they got boost pads and springs to function correctly. Boggles the mind why they felt this was an appropriate way to show the game off.
